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Saving the planet... one garment at a time!

... and one upcycle at a time... Welcome to my blog: A place to have an "over the fence conversation" about sewing, altered couture, upcycling, and all kinds of crafts using found objects, beads, ephemera and other vintage finds!

Friday, August 8, 2014

Trashed Tee to Colorblocked Dress

Sale rack meets junk T in this upcycle project!

I had a really soft comfortable T shirt (which came from Chico's, so it was not cheap either) that I was wearing during a crafting session one day. Needless to say I ruined the shirt by getting some glue on it.

The glue spots look really small in the picture, but I always felt self-conscious wearing it. I decided to make a dress out of it when I saw a plain black children's maxi on a sale rack at Target. The maxi is made of a very soft knit with lycra, and is black.

After removing the elastic waistband, the cropped top and the skirt lined up PERFECTLY! I think they were meant to be together! The only problem was getting slippery knits to cooperate and play along. I decided to use dryer sheets as a stabilizer (what?). First I cut the sheets into strips.

Then, I placed the strips under my work so that the knit was not touching the feed dogs.

When the dress was completed, I clipped away the dryer sheet. Here's the finished dress! I hope you like it, and I hope you let me know what you are working on!

2 comments:

I am so stealing this idea! I have heard of doing this, but no one else showed it so clearly, from oops to ta-da! Thank you. (And now you know why I have crafting and gardening clothes... so I hopefully won't keep ruining the good stuff!)

About Me

Hi! I've been sewing for approximately 40 years, having learned in a junior high home ec class. Since then, I've made many, many dresses and costumes, including many award winning dance costumes and tutus for my daughter, one of which was a restyle of my mother's wedding gown.

I'm a mixed media artist with strong interests in wearable art, altered couture, vintage clothing, vintage reproduction, beadwork, paper arts, and found object art. Upcycling is a great way to create while re-using stuff that might otherwise go to the landfill!